The Power of Prophecy
Prince Dipanagara and the End of an Old Order in Java, 1785-1855
Author:
National hero, Javanese mystic, pious Muslim and leader of the "holy war" against the Dutch between 1825 and 1830, the Yogyakarta prince, Dipanagara (1785-1855, otherwise known as Diponegoro), is pre-eminent in the pantheon of modern Indonesian historical figures. Yet despite instant name recognition in Indonesia, there has never been a full biography of the princeâs life and times based on Dutch and Javanese sources. The Power of Prophecy is a major study which sets Dipanagaraâs life history against the context of the turbulent events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century when the full force of European imperialism hit Indonesia like an Asian tsunami destroying forever Javaâs "old order" and propelling the twin forces of Islam and Javanese national identity into a fatal confrontation with the Dutch. This confrontation known as the Java War, in which Dipanagara was defeated and exiled, marked the beginning of the modern colonial period in Indonesia which lasted until the Japanese occupation of 1942-1945.
The book presents a detailed analysis of Dipanagaraâs pre-war visions and aspirations as a Javanese Ratu Adil ("Just King") based on extensive reading of his autobiography, the Babad Dipanagara as well as a number of other Javanese sources. Dutch and British records, in particularly the Residency Archives of Yogyakarta and Surakarta currently kept in the Indonesian National Archives, provide the backbone of this scholarly work. The book will be read with profit by all those interested in the rise of Western colonial rule in Indonesia, the fate of indigenous cultures in an age of imperialism and the role of Javanese Islam in modern Indonesian history.
The book presents a detailed analysis of Dipanagaraâs pre-war visions and aspirations as a Javanese Ratu Adil ("Just King") based on extensive reading of his autobiography, the Babad Dipanagara as well as a number of other Javanese sources. Dutch and British records, in particularly the Residency Archives of Yogyakarta and Surakarta currently kept in the Indonesian National Archives, provide the backbone of this scholarly work. The book will be read with profit by all those interested in the rise of Western colonial rule in Indonesia, the fate of indigenous cultures in an age of imperialism and the role of Javanese Islam in modern Indonesian history.
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René T.A. Lysloff is an Associate Professor of Music (Ethnomusicology) at the University of California-Riverside. He has conducted research on traditional and contemporary arts in Central Java for more than twenty years. Lysloff has published articles in Ethnomusicology, Asian Theatre, Cultural Anthropology, and other journals and collections (including the Garland Encyclopedia of Music). Also, he co-edited (with Leslie Gay) Music and Technoculture (2003, Wesleyan University Press).